No Arabic abstract
We compute the mass function of galactic dark matter halos for different values of the Warm Dark Matter (WDM) particle mass m_X and compare it with the abundance of ultra-faint galaxies derived from the deepest UV luminosity function available so far at redshift z~2. The magnitude limit M_UV=-13 reached by such observations allows us to probe the WDM mass functions down to scales close to or smaller than the half-mass mode mass scale ~10^9 M_sun. This allowed for an efficient discrimination among predictions for different m_X which turn out to be independent of the star formation efficiency adopted to associate the observed UV luminosities of galaxies to the corresponding dark matter masses. Adopting a conservative approach to take into account the existing theoretical uncertainties in the galaxy halo mass function, we derive a robust limit m_X>1.8 keV for the mass of thermal relic WDM particles when comparing with the measured abundance of the faintest galaxies, while m_X>1.5 keV is obtained when we compare with the Schechter fit to the observed luminosity function. The corresponding lower limit for sterile neutrinos depends on the modeling of the production mechanism; for instance m_sterile > 4 keV holds for the Shi-Fuller mechanism. We discuss the impact of observational uncertainties on the above bound on m_X. As a baseline for comparison with forthcoming observations from the HST Frontier Field, we provide predictions for the abundance of faint galaxies with M_UV=-13 for different values of m_X and of the star formation efficiency, valid up to z~4.
Analytic formulas reproducing the warm dark matter (WDM) primordial spectra are obtained for WDM particles decoupling in and out of thermal equilibrium which provide the initial data for WDM non-linear structure formation. We compute and analyze the corresponding WDM overdensities and compare them to the CDM case. We consider the ratio of the WDM to CDM primordial spectrum and the WDM to CDM overdensities: they turn to be self-similar functions of k/k_{1/2} and R/R_{1/2} respectively, k_{1/2} and R_{1/2} being the wavenumber and length where the WDM spectrum and overdensity are 1/2 of the respective CDM magnitudes. Both k_{1/2} and R_{1/2} show scaling as powers of the WDM particle mass m while the self-similar functions are independent of m. The WDM primordial spectrum sharply decreases around k_{1/2} with respect to the CDM spectrum, while the WDM overdensity slowly decreases around R_{1/2}. The nonlinear regions where WDM structure formation takes place are shown and compared to those in CDM: the WDM non-linear structures start to form later than in CDM, and as a general trend, decreasing the DM particle mass delays the onset of the non-linear regime. The non-linear regime starts earlier for smaller objects than for larger ones; smaller objects can form earlier both in WDM and CDM. We compute and analyze the differential mass function dN/dM for WDM at redshift z in the Press-Schechter approach. The WDM suppression effect of small scale structure increases with the redshift z. Our results for dN/dM are useful to be contrasted with observations, in particular for 4 < z < 12. We perfom all these studies for the most popular WDM particle physics models. Contrasting them to observations should point out the precise value of the WDM particle mass in the keV scale, and help to single out the best WDM particle physics model (Abridged).
The Reduced Relativistic Gas (RRG) model was introduced by A. Sakharov in 1965 for deriving the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum. It was recently reinvented by some of us to achieve an interpolation between the radiation and dust epochs in the evolution of the Universe. This model circumvents the complicated structure of the Boltzmann-Einstein system of equations and admits a transparent description of warm-dark-matter effects. It is extended here to include, on a phenomenological basis, an out-of-equilibrium interaction between radiation and baryons which is supposed to account for relevant aspects of pre-recombination physics in a simplified manner. Furthermore, we use the tight-coupling approximation to explore the influence of both this interaction and of the RRG warmness parameter on the anisotropy spectrum of the CMB. The predictions of the model are very similar to those of the {Lambda}CDM model if both the interaction and the dark-matter warmness parameters are of the order of $10^{-4}$ or smaller. As far as the warmness parameter is concerned, this is in good agreement with previous estimations on the basis of results from structure formation.
The aim of this paper is to introduce the WIRCam Ultra Deep Survey (WUDS), a near-IR photometric public survey carried out at the CFH Telescope in the field of the CFHTLS-D3 field (Groth Strip). WUDS includes four near-IR bands (Y, J, H and K_s) over a field of view of ~400 arcmin^2. The typical depth of WUDS data reaches between ~26.8 in Y and J, and ~26 in H and K_s (AB, 3 sigma in 1.3 arcsec aperture). The area and depth of this survey were specifically tailored to set strong constraints on the cosmic star formation rate and the luminosity function brighter or around L* in the z~6-10 redshift domain, although these data are also useful for a variety of extragalactic projects.This first paper is intended to present the properties of WUDS: catalog building, completeness and depth, number counts, photometric redshifts, and global properties of the galaxy population. We have also concentrated on the study of galaxy samples at z~[4.5-7] in this field. UV luminosity functions were derived at z~5 and z~6 taking advantage from the fact that WUDS covers a particularly interesting regime at intermediate luminosities, which allows a combined determination of M* and Phi* with increased accuracy. Our results on the luminosity function are consistent with a small evolution of both M* and Phi* between z=5 and z=6, irrespective of the method used to derive them, either photometric redshifts applied to blindly-selected dropout samples or the classical Lyman Break Galaxy color-preselected samples. Our results lend support to higher Phi* determinations at z=6 than usually reported. The selection and combined analysis of different galaxy samples at z>7 will be presented in a forthcoming paper. WUDS is intended to provide a robust database in the near-IR for the selection of targets for detailed spectroscopic studies, in particular for the EMIR/GTC GOYA Survey (Abridged)
We study the dynamics of a spectator Higgs field which stochastically evolves during inflation onto near-critical trajectories on the edge of a runaway instability. We show that its fluctuations do not produce primordial black holes (PBHs) in sufficient abundance to be the dark matter, nor do they produce significant second-order gravitational waves. First we show that the Higgs produces larger fluctuations on CMB scales than on PBH scales, itself a no-go for a viable PBH scenario. Then we track the superhorizon perturbations nonlinearly through reheating using the delta N formalism to show that they are not converted to large curvature fluctuations. Our conclusions hold regardless of any fine-tuning of the Higgs field for both the Standard Model Higgs and for Higgs potentials modified to prevent unbounded runaway.
For a general dark-energy equation of state, we estimate the maximum possible radius of massive structures that are not destabilized by the acceleration of the cosmological expansion. A comparison with known stable structures constrains the equation of state. The robustness of the constraint can be enhanced through the accumulation of additional astrophysical data and a better understanding of the dynamics of bound cosmic structures.